Huskers Drop 3-2 Heartbreaker to Creighton

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 13-15) heartbreaker to the Creighton Bluejays on Friday night at the NU Coliseum. Serving and hitting errors plagued the Huskers on the night as Nebraska received its first loss of the 2013 spring season.

Kelsey Robinson led the team with 21 kills on 48 swings, while Kelsey Fien had 12 kills and Morgan Broekhuis notched 10 kills. Alexa Strange paced the offense with 55 assists, while Kadie Rolfzen led NU defensively with 21 digs.

Nebraska hit .144 in the match, while Creighton hit .184. NU was out-blocked 16-9, but out-dug the Bluejays 67-62.

Creighton came out on top in the first set, taking a 9-3 lead before the Huskers were forced to call a timeout. An ace by Meghan Haggerty cut the Bluejay lead to 12-6, while a kill by Robinson made it 17-10, CU. The Huskers could not muster a strong enough comeback though, as they fell 25-17.

Alicia Ostrander and Robinson both had three kills in the set, but the Huskers hit just .148 as a team. Creighton hit .500 and out-blocked NU 4-2.

Robinson came on strong for the Huskers early in the second set, recording a kill to make it 7-6, Nebraska. A kill by Thramer and ace by Haggerty put NU up 12-11, while another kill by Robinson made it 16-15, NU. A double-stuff block by Amber Rolfzen and Thramer made it 22-21, Nebraska, as the Huskers went on to win the second set 25-22.

Robinson led NU in the second set with five kills, while Thramer had three. Nebraska hit .154 for the set, while Creighton was held to a .103 hitting percentage. The Huskers were out-blocked 3-2.

Creighton went up 8-6 in the third set, but a kill by Robinson cut CU’s lead to 11-10. Nebraska then took a 13-12 lead and forced Creighton to call a timeout. Nebraska tied it up again at 15-15, as a double-stuff block by Fien and Thramer made it 20-18, NU. A kill by Broekhuis made it 22-19, but after two set points, the Bluejays took the third set 27-25.

Robinson had seven kills in the set, while Fien notched three. Strange recorded 10 assists, but the Huskers hit just .050. Creighton his .086 for the set and had four team blocks to Nebraska’s two.

Nebraska went up 4-3 in the fourth set on a kill by Broekhuis, while a kill by Fien made it 9-7, NU. The two teams traded leads as Haggerty put NU up 14-12 on a kills. Fien came through again with a kill to give Nebraska a 17-15 lead, but CU tied it back up at 18-18. Two hitting errors put Nebraska up 22-19, as NU went on to win the set 25-20.

Broekhuis had five kills in the set, while Fien notched four. Strange tallied 12 assists and Nebraska hit .205 for the set, while Creighton hit .073.

Creighton went up 9-4 in the fifth set, but the Husker used a run to cut their lead to 10-7. Broekhuis put NU within one at 12-11, Creighton, while back-to-back kills by Robinson tied the set at 13-13. However the Bluejays rallied with two-straight kills for a 15-13 fifth-set win.